A High Speed Train With An IPEMU-Capability
Bombardier were reported by Ian Walmsley in the April 2016 Edition of Modern Railways, to be developing Aventra, with a 125 mph capability.
Bombardier have also told me, that all Aventras will be wired so they could be fitted with on-board energy storage.
I don’t know all the masses and speeds, but imagine if an Aventra with an IPEMU capability ran at high speed down an electrified main line and then with its on-board energy storage full to brimming, turned on to line with a reasonably high speed, where it might make a number of calls before returning.
A typical line could be London to Norwich via Cambridge, along the Breckland Line, which is not electrified from Ely to Trowse Junction south of Norwich. Parts have a 90 mph speed limit and I’m sure the speeds could be improved.
The train would need to use the energy storage, but this storage would be partially recharged every time the train stopped, by the regenerative braking of the train.
An interesting fact, is that the kinetic energy of a train is given by half the mass times the square of the speed. So if the train leaves the electrified section, as fast as is reasonably possible, it is carrying extra energy.
Because of the regenerative braking of Aventras and for that matter, Electrostars and some other trains. some of this energy can be recovered and stored in the on-board energy stoppage of an IPEMU, every time the train stops at a station
Intuition and many years of doing this sort of dynamic simulation, tells me, that the faster the train goes at the start, lengthens the range if on-board energy storage is available.
It is worth noting the energy levels involved. If you take the energy of a train travelling at 40 mph as one, the energy of a train travelling at 60 mph is 2.25 times as much and one travelling at 125 mph, a massive 9.76 times.
I think that other factors will also help.
- A track built for speed.
- Modern signalling.
- An efficient train.
- Low dwell-times in stops.
- Advanced driving aids.
- Good driving.
I suspect that Network Rail and Bombardier are doing extensive simulations of possible routes for trains with an IPEMU capability.
These calculations will probably show some routes are more suitable than others.
A route that could might be ideal, would be a branch where the line speed was high to a single station, so that by the use of the regenerative braking, the train could start the return journey with a high level of energy in the storage.
London to Norwich via Cambridge, is not a line to a single station, but both ends are electrified, so the trains will start the journey with full storage, probably losing a proportion of the energy at each stop.
I’d love to be doing those simulations. But it’s all physics that Isaac Newton would have understood.
An Announcement From TfL
This article in Rail Technology Magazine is entitled Battersea Power Station to be extensively redesigned for Northern Line extension.
I think that they’ve found that putting together the new Battersea station, is not as simple as the developers thought.
In fact, they could have discounted it, as how many of the developers, architects or owners of the new properties will actually use the line?
But Londoners, visitors and others are looking forward to the Northern Line Extension, as it gives access to an area, that is not the easiest place to visit, unless you use several buses or a long walk.
However, the most significant news in the article is the last paragraph.
At the same meeting, the committee were also asked to authorise TfL to submit a proposal for a final fixed licencing price in order to commercially exploit the software used in its contactless payment systems.
Does this mean, that London’s contactless payment system will be seen all over the world?
I certainly hope so, as I’ve never found a system that comes within a hundred miles of London’s proven go-anywhere ticketing on either an Oyster-like card or a contactless bank-card.
If I ruled the world, I’d make this compulsory for all public transport!
It would create the biggest economic stimulus to tourism and trade, since coins were first used in the Iron Age.
The Anonymous Widower 